Improvement in sewing-machines



2 Sheets-Sheet I J. E. A. GIBBS.

Sewing Machine.

Farmed Dec. 16, 1856.

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J. E. A. GIBBS.

Sewing Machine.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. I

No= 16,234. Patented Dec. 16. 1856.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES E. ALGIBBS, OF MILL POINT, VIRGINIA.

IMPROVEMENT INHSEWING-MACHWES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 16,23 1. dated December16, 1856.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES E. A. GIEBs, of Mill Point, in the county ofPocahontas and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Sewing-Machines and I hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference beinghad tothe accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in

- which- Flgure 1 is a front elevation; Fig. 2, an end elevation; Fig.3, a plan view of the springclamp; Fig. 4, a front View of the same.

The letters of reference indicate the same parts in the differentfigures wherever they occur.

The following is a description of the construction and operation of myimprovements as applied to a single needle and shuttle machine.

From a bed-piece, A, rises an upright or standard, B, to which issecured the table 0. An arm, E, projects forward from the upright B andsustains the guide-piece F for the needle rod or carrier G. Aslidingpiece, I, works vertically through mortises in E and G, which serve toguide it. From its upper end proj ects horizontally an arm, H, to whichthevertical needle-rod G is attached. It is jointed at its lower end tothe pitman P, by which it is connected with the crank K of the mainshaft L, from which it derives a vertical reciprocating motion. Ar'ockshaft, O, is placed in suitable bearings at right angles with theshaft L, their axes being in the same horizon tal plane".

From the shaft 0 projects upward a radial arm, a, supporting upon itsupper end the shuttle-carrier b, in which the shuttle M is I placed. Theshuttle is open upon both sides,

and contains a spool of thread, upon which a small friction-spring bearsto give the thread the proper tension. The face of the shuttle worksagainst the face of the vertical shuttleplate Nwith a reciprocatingmotion. This plate is secured to the under side of the table 0, and bothare supported by the standard D, which is not shown in Fig. 1. Acircular groove, 6, is formed inthe face of the plate N, concentric withthe axis of the shaft 0 and corresponding with the path of the shuttle,the pointed beak of which is curved toward the plate fitting into andtraversing in the bottom of the mortise which is formed in the thicknessof the plate through its whole width to admit of the free passage of theneedle. The bottom of the groove 6 is made flush with the path of theneedle.

It often happens, when the shuttle traverses upon a plane surface, thatthe twist in the thread causes it to kink and the loop to lie fiat uponthe plate, the shuttle passing over the loop instead of through it, thusdropping a stitch; but by my improvement the beak of the shuttle willsurely engage with the loop, even when the thread lies flat upon theplate.

The needle-rod G carries a straight eyepointed needle, I, and is guidedvertically in a groove in the piece F, to which it is confined by theplates f. Near its upper end it is cut away on both sides to form anarrow neck, I,

having shoulders above and below this neck, moves in a mortise in thearm H to a limited extent for the purpose of allowing two intervals ofrest to the needle-rod in each revoluwhile the main shaft is operatedwith a regular continuous motion in one direction. Upon the piece F isplaced a spring, a, which is forced down by a pin, 0", upon theneedle-rod when the machine is in a position shown in Fig. 2.

Upon the shaft L is fixed a cam, I, composed of concentric circles, thecenter of which is the axis of the shaft. About one-third of theperiphery of the cam is of greater diameter than the other two-thirds,thus forming a projection the ends of which are tangential to the shaft.From the rock-shaft 0 project two radial arms, 9' and s, of such alength and placed at such an angle with each other that when theprojection of the cam shall have forced the arm '1 down sufficiently tobring the shuttle to the end of its backward stroke and shall have heldit there a sufficient time,

' it shall then elevate the arm S, by which movement the shuttle iscarried to the end of its S forward stroke, as shown in Fig. 1, where itremains until 4 is again engaged by the cam.

From the shaft 0 projects another arm carrying a segment of a circle, 1,upon which a spring, a, bears for the purpose of creating a friction,which shall insure steadiness in the action-of the shuttle-carrier.

It will be perceived that, when the machine is stopped with the shuttleat the end of its forward stroke, the cam offers no obstruction tomoving the shuttle-carrier still farther over for the purpose ofremoving the shuttle, which is done with great facility.

The cloth to be sewed is held firmly in a slotted clamp, B, the bottomportion of which is rigid, and traverses the table G in a groove sunksufficiently to bring its upper surface fiushwith that of the table 0.The top portion of the clamp is made of spring-steel, slotted tocorrespond with the bottom piece, which, when left free, will assume acurved shape, as represented in Fig. 4. This curve should bear such arelation to the strength and stiffness of the spring that the clothshall be held with equal pressure, or nearly so, throughout the wholelength of the clamp, when it is held down at its ends by the hooks q.The clamp B is connected by two uprights with a horizontal piece, 12,which traverses in a groove in the bed-piece A. It carries a rack, w,which meshes into a pinion, w, .upon the shaft 3 This shaft also carriesa ratchet-wheel, z, and friction-wheel p.

A lever, a, hinged to the under side of the table 0 and bent round theshaft L, receives a vibrating motion by means of an arm projecting fromthe shaft L.

The lever a carriesa slide, 0, which can be fixed at any convenientpoint upon a by a set-screw. To this slide a click, d, is pivoted, whichtakes into the teeth of the ratchet-wheel 2, thus forming with the partsbefore described, a regular feed motion for the cloth, the length ofstitch being regulated by the portion of the slide 0 upon\the lever a. Aspring, d, bears upon the friction-wheel p and steadies the motion ofthe shaft.

The thread for the supply of the needle is contained up on a bobbin, 0,which is provided with a coiled spring and friction-nut to retard orprevent the unwinding of the thread, which proceeds from the bobbinthrough an eye in a spring-arm, f, projecting from the clampframe, fromthence through an eye in the piece F, and thence through an eye near thetop of the needle-rod; and then it is passed through the eye of aneedle, and, being drawn tight, the revolution of the spool is stoppedby its friction-nut. By this arrangement of connecting the needle-threadwith the feed-motion of the cloth, the loop is invariably formed withinthe thickness of the cloth-4'. e., the needle-thread being fed into theneedle sufficient to form the stitch with the loop in the cloth, it hasno tendency to draw the shuttle-thread above the cloth, and the bobbinof the needle-thread be- 4 ing fastened stationary, the shuttle-threadcannot draw the needle-thread below the cloth in tightening the stitch.The same object may be attained by giving the needle-thread anindependent feed motion on the same principle. The bobbin, for instance,may have a ratchetwheel attached to it, which is operated by afeed-hand, the latter being moved by a proper mechanism. In this casethe feed-motion may also be more easily and eoveniently regulated,

so as to suit the different thicknesses of cloth.

The whole machine is secured to a table or bench by a screw-clamp, F,which, being pivoted to the bed-piece, can be readily moved out of theway, when not required for, use by turning it up, as shown in Fig. 1.

The machine being started from its position shown in Fig. 1 by turningthe crank-handle in the direction of the dart, the shuttle isimmediately thrown back, and the needle descends by the means beforedescribed. Half a revolution being completed, the arm H begins to rise,but does not lift the needle-bar in the first part of its motion.Thatisdonebytherecoil ofthespring against the pin. This forms the loopin the vertical groove 0. The needle-bar stops for an i11- stant of timewhile the arm H is moving from the lower to the upper shoulder of theneck. At this moment the shuttle darts throughthe loop. The needlerecommences its upward motion and draws the shuttle-thread up to thecenter of the cloth and forms the stitch. In the meantime the feedmotion is put in operation, and the clamp is moved up the length ofanother stitch.

Having now fully described my improvement in sewing-machines, what Iclaim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Feeding up the thread to the needle by connecting the needle-threadwith the cloth feed-motion, or by giving the needle-thread anindependent feed motion, so that there shall be sufficient thread and nomore at each stitch fed into the needle to form the stitch, therebycausing theneedle to draw the shuttle-thread into the cloth and neverabove it, for the purpose of insuring the meeting of the loops or lookswithin the body of the cloth.

2. I'do not claim straight clamp-feeders for the purpose of feeding thecloth, as they are not new; but I do claim fastening the cloth .upon aslotted table moving with a rectilinear motion by means of a slottedcurved spring, the slots in both spring and table corresponding witheach other and holding the cloth on both sides of the seam.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification beforetwo subscribing witnesses.

JAMES E. A. GIBBS.

\Vitnesses:

CHAS. EVERETT, JOHN S. HOLLINGSHEAD, G. B. TOWLES.

